WASHINGTON, April 7, 2010—The Obama administration took several actions today that will likely have a lasting and positive impact on government transparency. Each federal agency announced its Open Government Plan, complemented by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy changes to reduce certain impediments to transparency and to improve both regulatory and federal spending transparency.

Group maintains that reauthorization should be a step into the 21st Century, not a step backward
Congress should not use reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act as an occasion to keep the public in the dark and threaten existing regulations that protect health and safety, and the environment, OMB Watch will tell Congress today. Instead, it should be an occasion to promote information technologies that reduce costs to government, make compliance easier for industry, and improve transparency.

Despite its name, the Paperwork Reduction Act concerns much more than paperwork: it is a comprehensive law for management of information resources. Find out more with this backgrounder and this at-a-glance summary of the major parts of the PRA.